John Amaechi: The Psychology of Success

John Amaechi, former National Basketball Association player, best-selling author and executive coach, discusses his journey in professional sports and the importance of being inclusive.

On recognizing one’s potential through sports: “What I remember about being first involved in basketball was not the sport itself, but to me it was the idea that I was surrounded by a group of people and every time they looked at me, in their eyes I saw the reflection of my potential – that’s quite a transformative thing for a young person.”

On self-examination: “[To be my true self], I needed to recognize my soul in the dark, be able to describe myself beyond what I look like physically, what I like and what I don’t like, to actually understand the roots of the things that motivate me and to actually understand the things that might sabotage me in the future.”

On workplace inclusion: “Inclusion is not just about obvious or protected classes or demographics – it’s about seeing people as individuals, not just as job descriptions, recognizing that people bring something to the table well beyond the limits of what we might understand about their capabilities.”